Chapter 23: 23: Wishful Thinking

ARIEL

As I ascend the steps up to Helena and Dom’s royal suite, I’m not sure I feel less shocked now than I did a week ago when Alex asked Lola to be his chosen mate.

Since then, she’s stayed in the palace to plan their summer mating ceremony, which will be in three months.

~So much for a weeklong visit.~

Coffee from a local café in hand, I push the mating ceremony out of my mind and knock on Helena and Dom’s bedroom door.

Helena answers, looking tired.

“Hey,” I say, smiling, “you look like you could use this.” I hand her one of the paper cups. “Nonfat latte.”

“Thanks, Ari,” she says, taking a sip and setting it down on the coffee table.

“So where should we begin?” I say, looking throughout the masculine decor in the room.

Helena is planning to redecorate to fit both of their tastes and asked me for help.

“Please!” I hear Dom before he steps through the door. “Not my beer light!” I laugh as I see him holding up a neon Silver Moon Beer sign.

“Dom,” Helena says as she goes to him. “Not in our room. We both live here now and I want to feel like this place is mine, too.”

“Why don’t you put it in the poolroom?” I ask.

“Great idea!” she says with a tired smile as she gestures to me.

Seemingly okay with the compromise, Dom gives Helena a kiss before heading downstairs to work, neon sign in hand.

As we go through some home decor magazines, our conversation keeps going back to the events of last week.

“It was just so…out of the blue!” Helena says. “And did you notice how, I don’t know, unemotional it all was?”

I just nod. Something definitely felt weird with the way Alex had acted through the whole thing.

Like he was doing something he was told to do…

~Or maybe it’s just my wishful thinking.~

“My concerns are about Lola,” I say flatly. “I know she’s using him but Alex won’t listen to me without hard proof.”

“Everything about her just oozes disingenuous,” Helena says. “I told Dom about my feelings around her and he doesn’t seem to love the idea of Alex being with her either. But you know Dom…”

“Loyal beta to the end,” I say, nodding my head.

“Yep,” Helena says. “He’s a pain in Alex’s ass but he won’t challenge any major decisions.”

“I just wish I could catch her in the act again. But ever since the rogue attack, I haven’t been within fifty feet of her.”

“Well, maybe ~you~ don’t have to be.”

“Are you saying you’d be willing to do a little... spying?” I lift my eyebrows.

“I’m already forced to be around her for pack business,” Helena says, smiling slyly. “Maria’s pushing for us to be friends. Why not use it for some good?”

I feel a twinge of guilt for even asking this of Helena.

She’s been a true friend and, even in the short time we’ve known each other, I feel almost as close to her as I do to Amy.

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” I say. “I’d hate to take any risks. I don’t know what I’d do if you were put in danger.”

“What danger?” she insists. “I’ll just be hanging out with her the way Maria wants, and if I happen to see or hear something I’m not meant to, then so be it.”

“Just be careful,” I say. “I’m still not sure exactly what she’s capable of.”

Helena rolls her eyes and stands to get some color swatches off the side table.

A flash of something crosses her face and she suddenly looks very pale.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, I just think I—” She covers her mouth and runs to the en suite bathroom.

I hear her vomiting into the toilet, followed by a flush.

“Helena?” I say in the doorway. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’ve just been feeling under the weather the past few days.”

“Under the weather how?”

She opens the door and comes through. She really looks exhausted.

“Just tired,” she says. “And a little nauseous every once in a while.”

“Helena. Have you stopped to think that you’re...”

Werewolves can detect pregnancy earlier than humans and our terms only last four months.

If Helena conceived on their honeymoon, she’d be two to three weeks along by now.

“Yes,” she says looking down. “I’ve been putting off going to the doctor.”

With that, I force Helena to make an appointment. Fortunately, the pack doctor can see her right away—one of the perks of being the beta princess.

Leaving Dom to his beer light, we get in one of the palace cars and head for the doctor’s office.

***

I hold Helena’s hand as she nervously jigs her knee on the exam table.

“What if I am and Dom flips out?”

“Dom doesn’t flip,” I say, smiling. “He freaks.”

Helena lets out a laugh. “We just got mated, though. What if it’s too soon? What if things change between us because we haven’t had enough time to be a mated couple?”

Before I can answer, the doctor steps into the exam room.

“Beta Princess,” he says, smiling, “I have your results.”

“And?”

“Congratulations. You’re two and a half weeks along. Let’s get you scheduled for a sonogram with your mate next week, shall we?”

And just like that, Helena’s life is moving onto a new path. First a mate, and now a mother.

She looks elated…and nervous. “Oh my Goddess! How am I going to tell Dom?”

***

“I’m pregnant!” Helena yells to Dom, who’s walking with Alex down the palace steps.

I lower the box containing the test results we wrapped up like a present to give him as a surprise.

~So much for that…~

I laugh at her outburst while attempting not to look at Alex.

“You’re—wha—” Dom looks like he’s about to pass out for a second.

He then runs down the rest of the stairs and embraces Helena.

I have a smile on my face, but I can’t help thinking of my own destined mate.

A new father, and not with me.

I’d never thought much about having pups until I was faced with the harsh reality that it may not happen for me. Not if I don’t take a chosen mate.

And I honestly can’t see that happening anytime soon, especially since…

I glance at Alex. Our eyes meet before I have the chance to look away.

“Congratulations, you two,” he says, pulling his eyes away from me.

“I’ll, um…I’ll give you guys some room to talk,” I say as I head for my bike.

I’m tempted to look back at Alex but I resist the urge.

***

The following weekend, Maria hosts a luncheon to celebrate the beta couple’s happy news.

I’m in agony that there’s no alcohol at this event. But if Helena can’t drink, why should everyone else be able to at ~her~ celebration?

Instead, I stuff my face with finger sandwiches and macarons.

I begin to move away from the table when I see Lola and Alex walking hand in hand nearby.

“Ariel,” Lola says with a fake smile. “It’s so nice to see that you’re able to enjoy yourself outside of guard duty.”

Alex doesn’t say a word, and I don’t give her the satisfaction of a retort. I just munch away on this cucumber and cream cheese thing.

“And that color on you…so pretty!” she says, referring to the sunflower-colored A-line dress I’m wearing.

“It’s just so nice that you can get out of the rough-and-tumble lifestyle every once in a while,” she continues. “It must be difficult to feel like a real woman with all that training they put you through.”

“Actually,” I say, “I feel more myself in a fight than I do in heels.”

She gives a fake laugh. “Apparently.” She motions to the combat boots I’m wearing with my dress. “I wish I could be more like that…low maintenance. But I guess I’m just a princess at heart.”

“You’re ~something~,” I say before turning to walk away.

Before I can get very far, I hear her say, “I can’t wait to have pups. Can you just imagine how beautiful ours will be, Alex?”

~Don’t give this bitch the satisfaction of looking back.~

But I turn back anyway. Alex has an uncomfortable look on his face.

“I’m, uh…I’m going to go say hello to the father-to-be,” he says before planting a quick kiss on Lola’s cheek. “Good to see you, Ariel.”

“Alpha.” I give a faux-respectful nod as he walks past.

~You fucking idiot.~

“I know this can’t be easy for you,” Lola chimes in after Alex leaves us.

I roll my eyes. “What’s that?”

“Just seeing all of these happy couples.” Lola gives a devious smile. “Your friends ready to have pups.

“And you,” she continues, “stuck in the same place you were before you got banished from your own pack. That must be so hard.”

“Whatever you’re up to, Lola, I’m not blind,” I say in a calm tone, barely even looking her in the face.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asks, attempting to sound innocent.

“You know exactly what I mean. Aside from the eye contacts, you never go back to your own pack. Shouldn’t Alex have met your parents by now?”

“My father is very ill right now if you must know!”

I shrug. “You have no royal guard from back home. No ladies in waiting. You don’t even have enough money to go shopping for yourself. That’s not how most royalty conducts things.”

“And how would you know?” I’m definitely getting under her skin. “You may be guarding the beta princess, but you’re nothing but a commoner!”

“And you have a strange group of friends,” I say confidently.

“Wha—What are you talking about?”

“I was out near the border a couple of weeks ago and found you there talking to someone. I scented a rogue in the same area. Not the safest place for an alpha line princess to be having a conversation.”

“What do you…~think~ you heard?”

“Enough,” I say, smiling.

“There’s our luna-to-be!” Maria interrupts, with Alex trailing back behind her.

Lola immediately rushes to Alex, who puts his arm around her.

“Alex,” Lola says, “I’ve been giving it some thought and I’d really prefer a spring mating ceremony.”

“Oh, uh,” Alex says, “there’s not much left of spring.”

“I know,” Lola whines, “but it’s my favorite season and, well, I saw how beautiful Dominic and Helena’s ceremony was in the short amount of time they had to plan. Couldn’t we move it up by just a few little months?”

“That sounds lovely,” Maria pipes in. “Why don’t we move things up to the second Saturday in June.”

~What the…~

“That’s in two weeks!” Alex says. “I mean, I don’t know if we can—”

“You just let Lola and me worry about all the planning,” Maria says.

Lola squeals with delight. “This is going to be so much fun!”

~Shit! I’m running out of time!~